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Physical Exercise and Neuroinflammation in Major Depressive Disorder

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Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a prevalent psychiatric disorder associated with varied prognosis, chronic course, and duration of illness with reduced quality of life. One factor that significantly contributes to the relevant disease burden of MDD is the heterogeneous treatment response patients experience with current treatment options. A variety of experimental protocols in humans and animals have highlighted that inflammation and neuroinflammation are relevant biological factors that interact with external stimuli and neurophysiological mechanisms, and can trigger MDD. It is well established that exercise is efficacious in treating mild to moderate depression with response rates comparable to mainstream therapies such as antidepressant medication and cognitive behavioral therapy. Several studies have shown that physical exercise is beneficial for a range of chronic diseases. Indeed, physical exercise can promote molecular changes that swerve a chronic pro-inflammatory state to an anti-inflammatory state in both periphery and central nervous system. The changes caused by physical exercise include an increase in PGC1α gene expression, a transcriptional co-activator involved in reducing the synthesis and releasing of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and an increase in anti-inflammatory cytokines. PGC1α changes the metabolism of kynurenine towards, and, in turn, it reduces glutamatergic neurotoxicity. Moreover, some studies have shown that physical exercise promotes alterations in the circuitry of monoaminergic neurotransmission, at least in some aspects, through the effects on the release of proinflammatory cytokines. This review will highlight the effects of physical exercise as therapy and its relation with the biological mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of MDD, with particular emphasis in the interactions among physical exercise, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, neuroinflammation, and with the neurotransmitters underlying the main brain circuits involved in the MDD.

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Funding

The Translational Psychiatry Program (USA) is funded by the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). Translational Psychiatry Laboratory (Brazil) is one of the members of the Center of Excellence in Applied Neurosciences of Santa Catarina (NENASC). Its research is supported by grants from CNPq (JQ and GZR), FAPESC (ZMI, JQ, and GZR), Instituto Cérebro e Mente (JQ and GZR), and UNESC (JQ and GZR). JQ is a 1A CNPq Research Fellow.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Physiology, Pharmacology and Psychopathology, Federal University of Southern Frontier, Chapecó, SC, 89815-899, Brazil

    Zuleide M. Ignácio & Marcos E. Plissari

  2. Laboratory of Translational Psychiatry, University of Southern Santa Catarina, Criciúma, SC, Brazil

    Renato S. da Silva, João Quevedo & Gislaine Z. Réus

  3. Center of Excellence on Mood Disorders, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), Houston, TX, USA

    João Quevedo

  4. Translational Psychiatry Program, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), Houston, TX, USA

    João Quevedo

  5. Neuroscience Graduate Program, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), Houston, TX, USA

    João Quevedo

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  1. Zuleide M. Ignácio
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  2. Renato S. da Silva
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Correspondence to Zuleide M. Ignácio.

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Ignácio, Z.M., da Silva, R.S., Plissari, M.E. et al. Physical Exercise and Neuroinflammation in Major Depressive Disorder. Mol Neurobiol 56, 8323–8335 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-019-01670-1

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